Too Cute

Since the end of March, I have been researching and monitoring several potential habituated fox dens around my area.

Some two weeks ago, I found the tell-tale signs of fox cubs at two of these dens: lots of feathers, rabbit fur and bones, fresh digging marks and fox excrement.
I spent hours and hours at the dens, one in a pine forest and one in open heathland, but never got to see a fox.
No matter if I visited in the very early morning hours or in the late evening sun, no sign of the slightest bit of red fur.

Until yesterday, that is. I was in the field at 5.45 am already, sat under my camouflage cloth and had rested my sleepy head on my backpack. About every 10 minutes, I would raise my head and see if anything happened. Around 7 am, it did! Two inquisitive fox cubs wandered around in the morning sun. They were not bothered by my presence at all, only the sound of the shutter would have them look my way every now and then.

Around 8 am, I counted no less than five cubs, happily frolicking around. They dug in the sand, bit eachothers tail and ran through the den. Mom and dad must have been driven crazy by the mischievous gang of five. I had to be careful not to laugh loudly. A difficult task, as it was very funny to watch these cute fox cubs play and discover their neighbourhood. I feel privileged to have had this humbling experience, and will surely go back and try for different images. I can't wait 'till next weekend!

Red Fox Cub portrait; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/400s at F5.6 and ISO 250. Tripod and camouflage cloth.

Running Away

You see right through me,
Cause you're running away,
You keep turning your back on me,
I tried so hard,
But you're running away,
Please dont turn your back on me.

Three Days Grace - Running Away

Very appropriate lyrics from a song that is actually about something else, but nevermind. You may want to check out their music, as it literally rocks.

Reality is that I could approach this Roe Deer buck quite closely. Everytime his head went down to graze, I crawled several meters closer through the high grass. Because I sat upwind, the buck could not smell me, and by staying low, he could not see me. When I got close enough for a nice shot, he somehow got a sense of my presence and got very alert. After a loud bark, he ran/jumped off a good 20 meters, only to stand still and be inquisitive. This process repeated several times, until the buck had travelled half a circle around me and could finally sniff my human smell. He ran off into the forest, but at that time I had already had several opportunities for a nice action shot.

Roe Deer in mid-air; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/250s at F5.6 and ISO200; tripod.

Great Foggy Grebe

Here's one from last week. A night with a clear sky meant temperatures hovered around zero degrees celcius. The weather forecast for the following day predicted a sunny day, which means early morning, there will be fog, lots of fog. Especially above bodies of water. So naturally, I went to the local fishing ponds. Already en route I saw a dense layer of fog on moist meadows. Nice!
When I arrived at the ponds, all I needed was a suitable subject to pose in my misty landscape. And preferrably against the setting sun, as fog looks best with the light right into the lens.

This couple of Great Crested Grebes obeyed my wishes and gracefully swam by just as the first sunrays peeked above the horizon. They did not need to come any closer, as I wanted to stress the wide expanse of nothingness that dense fog can create. The reeds on the right hand corner provide just a little hint of the habitat that gradually appears when the fog evaporates in the warm sunrays.

Great Crested Grebes; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/320s at F8 and ISO 400; Tripod.

Mr & Mrs Partridge

Inspite of being tired from a few very short nights of sleep, I managed to get out early on sunday. Last week, I spent a morning in a tenthide for the Stonechat couple. The bushes that they have built their nest in border a sandy farmroad. The adjacent farmland features patches of long grass and wildflowers. An ideal residence for Partridge, a bird on the Red List.

Three couples live in the area around the tenthide, but only one couple regularly visits the spot in front of the hide. Sunday was no exception, although I had preferred them to visit an hour earlier when the light was a bit softer and warmer and there was still a thin layer of fog in the air. Reason to go back and try for some different shots.

I think I'll put a thin layer of plastic sheet in the tenthide, as it appeared the exact spot where I wanted to lie down was inhabited by not-so-friendly red ants. Both my hands and wrists were swollen for two days because of the large number of bites I received from the little buggers.


Grey Partridge portrait; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/400s at F5.6 and ISO400; Gitzo tripod from tenthide.

Common? Come on!

Somehow, most of the bird species I photograph have an English name that starts with 'common'. That seems to imply that the species can be found in abundance, does not look or sound spectacular and is not in need of preservation.

Just to give a few examples: Common Kingfisher, Common Stonechat, Common Redstart, Common Buzzard, Common Blackbird, Common Kestrel, Common Whitethroat, Common Cormorant. The list goes on and on. All beautiful birds, either because of their colors, a superb voice or just graceful behavior.

I wish we would stop to use the prefix 'common' in bird names. Not only does it sound simply belittling, it takes away from the beauty each and every species has to offer. Anyone who has ever seen a Kingfisher from closeby will have to agree that it looks anything but 'common' or 'regular'. Its bright colors are a feast to the eye, so why not call it the Splendid Kingfisher instead? Same for the Blackbird. It may be plain black, but when you hear one singing from a rooftop on a hot summers night, it deserves a name more like Melodious Blackbird, doesn't it? And don't even get me started about the Common Nightingale...

Angry-faced Stonechat; Canon 1D Mark III w. 500/4 IS and 2x; 1/320 at F 10 and ISO400; tripod from hide.